


Riptide

by leezh



Category: Sons of Anarchy, The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Siblings, Angst, Crossover, F/M, Family, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Major Character Injury, Siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-24
Updated: 2013-10-24
Packaged: 2017-12-30 08:59:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1016676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leezh/pseuds/leezh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ressler was stability, an anchor which kept her sane amid the daily fuck-ups Reddington brought to their jobs. He was the steady voice at the end of the day which reassured her that <i>“It’s all over now. It’s okay.”</i> and she would always believe him.</p>
<p>What she's supposed to do now when that was taken from her?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Riptide

**Author's Note:**

> Written after 1x05 "The Courier", but this is an AU anyhow.

She probably had a concussion. _No,_ _most certainly_ , Liz corrected herself as she staggered, struggling to stay vertical, to keep moving. _Fuck_ , it felt like she was burning all over and her eyes stung, everything ringing and nauseating, and she was just so tired of the pain-

But she got to stay moving, they _both_ got to keep moving, because this whole goddamn hellhole was about to collapse and Ressler- He was bleeding all over and- 

_Oh God, no, no, no-_

“Ressler!” she cried, desperate to anchor him in consciousness as he began to splutter, coughing up blood and it was all hot and wet and they both buckled from his weight and she just couldn’t, couldn’t-

_Stay with me._ Dropping to the ground, she desperately tried to keep him steady, levelling him to the ground. He was shaking, burning, too hot for her touch and for a second she just really didn’t know what to do now that he was slipping away-

_Stay with me. Please._

  
  


_Please._

 

-

 

“He’s stable,” they had said.

_For now,_ she finished in her head as she stared at his seemingly unmoving body.

He was covered in bandages and cuts and bruises, surrounded by the tubes that hooked him up to the ventilator as well as various other machines whose sound she instantly hated.

She also hated the silence in between the rhythm of his ECG device as much as its sickening beeping, hated the overlapping smell of blood and antiseptic _much, much more_. And the fact that the nurses couldn’t seem to comb his hair right nearly pushed her over the edge. She utterly despised them all. They were the constant reminder of things that he couldn’t do on his own: breathe, function, _be alive_.

Liz felt like throwing up.

She had been working with him for almost a year now, and while the two of them couldn’t be called as friends - because, hell, she still didn’t have the faintest idea what he did for fun or if he even had any random hobbies at all - Liz got to admit that sometimes, she would look up at Ressler and wonder since when he had become this sort of a constant in her messed up life.

But of course he was. Ressler's all protocols and by the books ( _the_ trait which sometimes exasperated her to no end). And, sure, he could be quick-witted and improvise with flying colors when the situation called, but he’s partial to following the rules because that's just how he’s wired. Simple. She even thought that she had him all figured out on her first week.

She was wrong on some points, actually, but to her credit, not by that much.

Over the course of the year, she discovered new things and many other different sides of the man, layer upon layer. He had a lot of inner rage which was perfectly controlled and channeled through his job. It was an act of pure self preservation, obviously because he's aware of the thin lines which he should never crossed should he ever been get too close to his breaking point.

And also, for all of his forever knitted brows and disapproving looks, he was more than capable of occasional tenderness (though a little bit awkward, if not much).

If Liz had to sum him up, then she'd answer that Ressler was stability, an anchor which kept her sane amid the daily fuck-ups Reddington brought to their jobs. He was the steady voice at the end of the day which reassured her that _“It’s all over now. It’s okay.”_ and she would always believe him.

What she's supposed to do now when that was taken from her?

**Author's Note:**

> The title was taken from the song featured on episode 3, ‘Here with Me’ by Susie Suh x Robot Koch (as Liz discovers the ballistic report on the bullet from Tom’s gun). I think I’ve single-handedly added around a few hundred plays to its Youtube clip. It’s such a beautiful song, and IMO, it’s such a nice song to accompany this fic.


End file.
